WOMYN'S HEALTH

Review of over 70 years of menopause science highlights research gaps and calls for individualized treatment

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CELL PRESS

 

IMAGE: CARDINAL SYMPTOMS AND CONSEQUENCES OF MENOPAUSE view more 

CREDIT: CELL, DAVIS ET AL.

Although about half of people go through menopause, less than 15% of them receive effective treatment for their symptoms. Treatment options for people experiencing irritating or severe menopause symptoms are often under researched, and some have questionable efficacy, or cause harmful side effects. In a comprehensive review publishing in the journal Cell on September 6, a team of world-renowned menopause experts summarizes what we know about menopause, calls for more research into the timeline and treatment of menopause, and encourages individualized, holistic treatment that addresses both menopausal symptoms and other systemic changes happening in the body.

“The road to menopause is not difficult for all, but for some, symptoms may be severe or even disabling and disruptive to work and family,” write the authors, who are based in Australia, Italy, and the United States. “Recognition that menopause, for most women, is a natural biological event, does not exempt the use of interventions to alleviate symptoms.”

For this review, the researchers looked at over 200 sources across 71 years to synthesize what’s currently known about menopause. The authors note the importance of recognizing that menopause impacts more than just cis women; they elect to use the term “women” in this review to reflect the language and focus of much of the research that currently exists in the field.

Key takeaways from the review include the following:

• The authors propose a new definition for menopause as “final cessation of ovarian function,” an update to the traditional definition, which focused on menstruation. While the new definition doesn’t account for all variability, it seeks to encompass people of all genders, as well as people who have irregular periods, use certain types of contraception like IUDs, have had hysterectomies, and more.
• The timeline of when menopause phases occur isn’t well understood and varies from person to person, so the authors argue that current age restrictions on prescriptions and therapies are illogical and problematic. While symptoms often start during perimenopause, few menopause therapies are currently approved for perimenopausal patients.
• Menopause treatments range from hormone therapies to lasers to plant products, but the authors argue that few have been studied over long enough timespans. They highlight potential side effects and health concerns for each type of treatment and note that even the most effective and well-researched option available presently—hormone therapy targeting estrogen—is still far from a perfect solution for all.
• Symptoms vary widely between people and throughout the course of menopause. Some people get many severe symptoms while others get few to none; but even if someone has no noticeable symptoms, there can still be significant “silent health consequences,” including bone loss and a higher risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and certain types of cancers. Additionally, the authors highlight that some symptoms, like short-term memory loss, can be temporary, and note that other symptoms, like depression and anxiety, are sometimes pre-existing conditions that have been falsely attributed to menopause due to stigma surrounding it. They also recommend exercising regularly and maintaining a nutritious diet that includes plenty of protein as a way to reduce the likelihood of contracting symptomatic health complications.
• The authors highlight the fact that socio-economic factors such as lower quality of life and the potential negative impact of menopausal symptoms on a woman’s work performance aren't often acknowledged.

“Despite decades of research pertaining to menopause, more work is needed,” write the researchers. Going forward, they call researchers to look deeper into when the menopause process starts and to focus on making menopause treatments more effective and safer overall. They underline the importance of researching the symptoms and other health impacts of menopause outside of high-income countries. Additionally, they suggest studying the impacts of menopause on work both from home and in an office, as well as the impacts on people with less traditional career paths such as caregivers and volunteers.

The team also argues that menopause treatments need to be holistic and tailored to the person being treated—addressing both the physical and mental health impacts of menopause, as well as the underlying health risks associated with menopause and any other relevant health concerns. “Women with bothersome menopausal symptoms should be counseled on treatment options and offered evidence-based therapies,” they write. “Therapy should be individualized depending on age and health risks, recognizing that health risks may increase with age.”

“Optimizing health at menopause is the gateway to healthy aging for women,” write the authors.

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Cell, Davis et al. “Menopause – Biology, Consequences, Supportive Care and Therapeutic Options.” https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)00905-4 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.08.016

Cell (@CellCellPress), the flagship journal of Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that publishes findings of unusual significance in any area of experimental biology, including but not limited to cell biology, molecular biology, neuroscience, immunology, virology and microbiology, cancer, human genetics, systems biology, signaling, and disease mechanisms and therapeutics. Visit: http://www.cell.com/cell. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.

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JOURNAL

Cell

DOI

10.1016/j.cell.2023.08.016 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Literature review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Menopause – Biology, Consequences, Supportive Care and Therapeutic Options

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2023

MU researcher awarded $2.17 million to study regeneration of endometrial lining of the uterus

Five-year NIH grant will fund study of uterine cell regeneration to increase understanding of endometrial disease and infertility in women

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA

The endometrium of the adult uterus has remarkable regenerative ability. In most women, this complex tissue repairs itself after injury, including from childbirth, achieving full function to support pregnancy again in the future. Now researchers want to learn more about the cells responsible for those repairs.

Andrew Kelleher, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health at the University of Missouri School of Medicine has been awarded a five-year, $2.17 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, an institute of the National Institutes of Health, to study the ability of cells in a women’s uterine endometrial lining to regenerate in a manner similar to stem cells.

“The uterine endometrial lining appears to contain cells that coordinate successful regeneration following injury,” said Kelleher. “An increased understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern this regenerative capacity is important not only for gaining fundamental knowledge of tissue and stem cell biology but also for the development of therapeutics for the treatment of endometrial diseases.”

In addition to endometrial diseases, such as endometriosis, endometrial fibroids, Asherman’s syndrome and endometrial cancer, aberrations in regeneration can make pregnancy more difficult or lead to infertility. This research aims to increase our understanding of the mechanisms governing uterine epithelial cell differentiation and regeneration with a long-term goal of improving the ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent endometrial disease and infertility in women. 

Kelleher’s research lab is in the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building at the University of Missouri. His team’s grant runs through May 2028.

 

New Myriad Genetics survey reveals widespread confusion and misconceptions about ovarian cancer screening among a majority of women

Nearly three out of four women falsely believe a pap smear will reveal ovarian cancer presence

Reports and Proceedings

MYRIAD GENETICS

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 6, 2023 – Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN), a leader in genetic testing and precision medicine, today revealed new nationwide survey results indicating widespread confusion and misconceptions about ovarian cancer screening among a majority of women. 

The Myriad Genetics Cancer Risk survey shows that nearly three out of four women (71%) falsely believe annual pap smears include testing for ovarian cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the “only gynecologic cancer the Pap test screens for is cervical cancer.”

“Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer for women due to the lack of screening techniques available and clinically specific symptoms. Many women believe they only need to visit every 3-5 years if they have a normal pap smear result,” said Ifeyinwa Stitt, MD, OB/GYN and medical director, Luminis Health in Annapolis, MD. “If women incorrectly believe having a normal pap equates to a low chance of ovarian cancer and don’t need an annual visit, this eliminates the opportunity for providers to annually screen for early symptoms and identify through abnormal pelvic exams. Knowledge of predisposing factors and surveillance is imperative to early detection which is key to ovarian cancer survival." 

While almost half (47%) of the women surveyed believe they are being proactive when it comes to ovarian health, only 38% say they visited an OB-GYN in the past year and 13% say they have taken a genetic test to assess risk for cancer. For those who have not taken a genetic test, many women said they’d be motivated to get a genetic test if they had a high-risk of ovarian cancer based on family medical history (49%) or an immediate family member with ovarian cancer (38%).

Regardless of risk factors, 71% of the women surveyed believe all women should have genetic testing to determine ovarian cancer risk. Two out of three (66%) agree that knowing their risk will allow them to take more appropriate preventative measures and 58% agree knowing their risk will help their doctor more appropriately plan treatment should they get cancer.

“Our latest survey results underscore the dire need to break down any confusion about ovarian cancer, including symptoms and screening, to help women better understand their cancer risk and how to take appropriate preventative measures,” said Melissa Gonzales, president of women’s health, Myriad Genetics. “Listening to your body, having open conversations with your doctor and knowing your family history are essential in this quest. For women with elevated risk factors, genetic testing can be a helpful tool that provides a cancer risk assessment personalized to them.”

For more information about Myriad’s hereditary cancer test and risk assessment, MyRisk® Hereditary Cancer Test with RiskScore®, please visit: https://myriad.com/genetic-tests/myrisk-hereditary-cancer-risk-test/.

About Myriad Genetics Cancer Risk nationwide survey
Myriad Genetics Cancer Risk Survey is a nationwide poll conducted online by ACUPOLL Precision Research, Inc. in from June 20-29, 2023 among a statistically representative sample (n=1632) of U.S. females age 18+. The survey included a representative sample of women at high-risk for breast or ovarian cancer. The margin of error in survey results for the total base population at a 95% confidence interval is +/- 3%.

About MyRisk® Hereditary Cancer Test with RiskScore®
MyRisk with RiskScore evaluates 48 genes associated with hereditary cancer risk to identify genetic changes associated with an increased cancer risk. When combined with family history and other clinical factors, MyRisk with RiskScore provides each patient with a cancer risk assessment individualized to them.

About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics is a leading genetic testing and precision medicine company dedicated to advancing health and well-being for all. Myriad develops and offers genetic tests that help assess the risk of developing disease or disease progression and guide treatment decisions across medical specialties where genetic insights can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. For more information, visit www.myriad.com.

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30 Years of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) Conference

30 Years of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC): Reflecting on History, Celebrating Achievements, and Addressing Challenges

Meeting Announcement

FRITZ HABER INSTITUTE OF THE MAX PLANCK SOCIETY

 

IMAGE: 30 YEARS OF THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC) CONFERENCE view more 

CREDIT: © FHI

The countdown has begun for the upcoming conference, "30 Years of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC): Histories, Achievements, Challenges," scheduled to take place on October 5-6, 2023 in Harnack-Haus in Berlin. The conference is supported by the Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Universität Hamburg, and the CWC Coalition of the Arms Control Association.

As the world remembers the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1993 in Paris, this conference provides an opportune moment for the treaty’s stakeholders to converge and evaluate the progress achieved so far in implementing it. Notably, September 30, 2023 marks the projected deadline for the elimination of all declared chemical arsenals by the parties to the CWC treaty.

The conference will offer a comprehensive view of the history, achievements, and evolving challenges of the CWC over the past three decades. Participants will engage in critical discussions regarding the realignment of the world in the face of a changing geopolitical and security landscape.

Key highlights of the conference include:

• A keynote address by the former Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), providing expert insights into the treaty's journey.
• Thought-provoking panels addressing various aspects of the CWC, with a particular focus on its potential as a model for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
• Participation by government officials, renowned scholars, and esteemed members of civil society.

For a detailed program and schedule, please visit the dedicated conference website.

In order to secure your attendance at this event, kindly register by September 30, 2023 on the registration portal.

Don't miss this opportunity to join the global conversation on chemical disarmament and the future of international security.

 

Shatterproof holds convening for media with a call to end stigmatizing reporting on addiction

Meeting Announcement

SHATTERPROOF

 

IMAGE: SHATTERPROOF LOGO view more 

CREDIT: SHATTERPROOF

WASHINGTON -- More than 46 million people ages 12 and older identify as having a substance use disorder. Addiction alters the lives of anyone who is connected to that individual, having a ripple effect across families, friends and communities. Media plays a critical role in how the public perceives addiction through the images and language used to portray these experiences, including providing accurate, humane and scientifically grounded information in an ever-changing landscape. Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization focused on guiding communities, removing systemic barriers to recovery, mobilizing the country to advocate for change, and ending addiction stigma in the U.S., is hosting a National Recovery Month press event for science and health writers as well as national reporters to discuss substance use disorders and the science behind recovery. The event aims to foster conversations between stakeholders and experts in the addiction space through a panel discussion to increase understanding of substance use disorders and improve reporting around this important public health issue.

 

The discussion, “Changing the Narrative: How the Media Can Help America Recover,” will be held tomorrow, Thursday, September 7 at the National Press Club located at 529 14th St NW, Washington D.C. from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Eastern. A virtual attendance option is also available:
https://www.workcast.com/register?cpak=6947260152146286

 

Panelists include:

• Nora Volkow, M.D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health
• Christian Heidbreder, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Indivior
• Tom McLellan, PhD, Founder, Treatment Research Institute and former Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
• Kirsten Suto Seckler, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Shatterproof, who will guide the discussion
• Alexandra Skouzes, Shatterproof Patient Ambassador who is 5 years in recovery from an opioid use disorder and is a Certified Nursing Assistant and D.C. resident

 

The event will:

• Inform the media on addiction and recovery
• Discuss substance use disorder and the science behind recovery options
• Educate to help eliminate the stigma around addiction
• Highlight the resources available for media to share with their audiences
• Provide an understanding of evidence-based treatment options

 

Key takeaways will include comprehensive education on recovery options, recognizing how recovery treatments work, and understanding the patient population.

To participate in person, please email press@shatterproof.org. To participate virtually, please register online.

About Shatterproof

Shatterproof is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the addiction crisis in the U.S. Shatterproof is focused on guiding communities, removing systemic barriers to recovery, mobilizing the country to advocate for change, and ending addiction stigma in the U.S. Find Shatterproof on Facebook, X, and YouTube @ShatterproofHQ or follow us on Instagram at @weareshatterproof. To learn more, visit www.Shatterproof.org. If you are experiencing anxiety, depression, or a substance use disorder, text SHATTERPROOF to 741741 for help.

Contacts

Lauren Lawson-Zilai
Shatterproof PR
press@shatterproof.org

Promising quantum state found during error correction research

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Window glass, at the microscopic level, shows a strange mix of properties. Like a liquid, its atoms are disordered, but like a solid, its atom are rigid, so a force applied to one atom causes all of them to move.

It’s an analogy physicists use to describe a quantum state called a “quantum spin-glass,” in which quantum mechanical bits (qubits) in a quantum computer demonstrate both disorder (taking on seemingly random values) and rigidity (when one qubit flips, so do all the others). A team of Cornell researchers unexpectedly discovered the presence of this quantum state while conducting a research project designed to learn more about quantum algorithms and, relatedly, new strategies for error correction in quantum computing.

“Measuring the position of a quantum particle changes its momentum and vice versa. Similarly, for qubits there are quantities which change one another when they are measured. We find that certain random sequences of these incompatible measurements lead to the formation of a quantum spin-glass,” said Erich Mueller, professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). “One implication of our work is that some types of information are automatically protected in quantum algorithms which share the features of our model.”

“Subsystem Symmetry, Spin-glass Order, and Criticality From Random Measurements in a Two-dimensional Bacon-Shor Circuit” published on July 31 in Physical Review B. The lead author is Vaibhav Sharma, a doctoral student in physics.

Assistant professor of physics Chao-Ming Jian (A&S) is a co-author along with Mueller. All three conduct their research at Cornell’s Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics (LASSP). The research received funding from a College of Arts and Sciences New Frontier Grant.

“We are trying to understand generic features of quantum algorithms – features which transcend any particular algorithm,” Sharma said. “Our strategy for revealing these universal features was to study random algorithms. We discovered that certain classes of algorithms lead to hidden ‘spin-glass’ order. We are now searching for other forms of hidden order and think that this will lead us to a new taxonomy of quantum states.”

Random algorithms are those that incorporate a degree of randomness as part of the algorithm – e.g., random numbers to decide what to do next.

Mueller’s proposal for the 2021 New Frontier Grant “Autonomous Quantum Subsystem Error Correction” aimed to simplify quantum computer architectures by developing a new strategy to correct for quantum processor errors caused by environmental noise – that is, any factor, such as cosmic rays or magnetic fields, that would interfere with a quantum computer’s qubits, corrupting information.

The bits of classical computer systems are protected by error-correcting codes, Mueller said; information is replicated so that if one bit “flips,” you can detect it and fix the error. “For quantum computing to be workable now and in the future, we need to come up with ways to protect qubits in the same way.”

“The key to error correction is redundancy,” Mueller said. “If I send three copies of a bit, you can tell if there is an error by comparing the bits with one another. We borrow language from cryptography for talking about such strategies and refer to the repeated set of bits as a ‘codeword.’”

When they made their discovery about spin-glass order, Mueller and his team were looking into a generalization, where multiple codewords are used to represent the same information. For example, in a subsystem code, the bit “1” might be stored in 4 different ways: 111; 100; 101; and 001.

“The extra freedom that one has in quantum subsystem codes simplifies the process of detecting and correcting errors,” Mueller said.

The researchers emphasized that they weren’t simply trying to generate a better error protection scheme when they began this research. Rather, they were studying random algorithms to learn general properties of all such algorithms.

“Interestingly, we found nontrivial structure,” Mueller said. “The most dramatic was the existence of this spin-glass order, which points toward there being some extra hidden information floating around, which should be useable in some way for computing, though we don’t know how yet.”

-30-

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JOURNAL

Physical Review B

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevB.108.024205 

 

Study looking at how intermittent fasting and weight loss affect aging

DiAL-Health study continues recruiting healthy adults in the Baton Rouge and Birmingham areas

Business Announcement

PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS AT THE PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM ARE CONDUCTING A STUDY TO SEE IF EATING FOR 8 HOURS AND FASTING FOR 16 EACH DAY CAN SLOW THE AGING PROCESS IN PEOPLE AND ARE LOOKING FOR HEALTHY ADULTS AGED 25-49 TO PARTICIPATE. view more 

CREDIT: PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER

Studies have shown that intermittent fasting can help people lose weight and may be easier to follow than counting calories to lose weight, such as traditional calorie restriction. Exciting new research in animals suggests that intermittent fasting slows aging and helps animals live longer.

Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the University of Alabama at Birmingham are conducting a study to see if eating for 8 hours and fasting for 16 each day can slow the aging process in people and are looking for healthy adults aged 25-49 to participate.

In this study, called DiAL-Health, researchers will determine if intermittent fasting or weight loss from calorie restriction can slow aging and improve health in people who are healthy weight and somewhat overweight. Moreover, the study will help determine if either eating plan can improve “healthspan” – the length of your life that you are free of diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure. 

The study is being led by Dr. Corby Martin, Professor and Director of the Ingestive Behavior, Weight Management and Health Promotion Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical; Dr. Leanne Redman, Professor and Director of Pennington Biomedical’s Reproductive Endocrinology and Women’s Health Laboratory; and Dr. Courtney Peterson from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“We have known for almost a hundred years that eating less extends an animal’s healthspan and lifespan,” Martin said. “Although eating less also slows aging in humans, it can be difficult to follow. Recently, however, studies have shown that intermittent fasting affects aging in a similar way in animals. Since intermittent fasting may be easier to follow than calorie counting, we are excited to see if intermittent fasting may be an easier way to become healthy and slow the aging process.”

Dr. Redman said that this study is particularly innovative as “it will use newly developed smartphone apps to help people stick with the program with minimal support from health coaches.”

In addition to affecting health and possibly longevity, both diets also promote weight loss, which can help address the nation’s obesity epidemic.

This clinical trial is currently open to join and is recruiting in both Baton Rouge and Birmingham, Ala. To qualify for the study, participants should have a body mass index between 22-30; and not smoke, vape or use tobacco products currently or within the last 6 months.

Inclusion of people who are healthy weight or somewhat overweight is unique and offers a rare opportunity for healthy individuals to participate in biomedical research. Participants will be compensated up to $2,500 for the completion of the study.

People interested in participating in the Baton Rouge trial should call 225-763-3000, email clinicaltrials@pbrc.edu, or visit www.pbrc.edu/DialHealth. People interested in participating in the trial in Birmingham should apply here.

“Obesity is one of the most prevalent and deadly diseases nationally,” said Dr. John Kirwan, Executive Director of Pennington Biomedical Research Center. “This study is an important contribution to our understanding of how intermittent fasting can help individuals to lose or maintain weight.”

This study is supported by a grant from the National institutes of Health.

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsors.

About the Pennington Biomedical Research Center

The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is at the forefront of medical discovery as it relates to understanding the triggers of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia. The Center architected the national “Obecity, USA” awareness and advocacy campaign to help solve the obesity epidemic by 2040. The Center conducts basic, clinical, and population research, and is affiliated with LSU.

The research enterprise at Pennington Biomedical includes over 480 employees within a network of 40 clinics and research laboratories, and 13 highly specialized core service facilities. Its scientists and physician/scientists are supported by research trainees, lab technicians, nurses, dietitians, and other support personnel. Pennington Biomedical a state-of-the-art research facility on a 222-acre campus in Baton Rouge.

For more information, see www.pbrc.edu.

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SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

 

New global climate restoration fund announces first grant cycle

Applications open to fund environmental impact studies and stakeholder outreach

Grant and Award Announcement

CLIMATE INTERVENTION ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT FUND

[Bethesda, Maryland, USA  -- September 6] The new Climate Intervention Environmental Impact Fund (CIEIF, www.cieif.org) begins operations today, with the goal of helping kickstart new approaches to restoring Earth’s climate in the face of rapid deterioration.  CIEIF makes direct grants to investigators worldwide working to stop and reverse global warming. The grants are focused on predictive environmental impact assessments, impact modeling studies, and stakeholder engagement for proposed small-scale field tests of innovative climate intervention technologies. CIEIF also offers investigators expert advice on doing impact assessment and stakeholder outreach.

CIEIF is now taking applications for 2023 for three awards of $50,000 each. The due date for applying is November 1. Grants will be made by December 15.

To be eligible, an applicant’s technology must be ready for field testing and potentially scalable to globally relevant levels. Within those criteria, the Fund is open to a range of ideas such as marine cloud brightening, coatings and structures that remove greenhouse gases, enhanced weathering, ice and land albedo enhancements, methane removal, ocean fertilization, and other ocean interventions.

Certain other technologies are not eligible for CIEIF financial support.  For example, field tests of stratospheric solar radiation management (SRM) are ineligible, given how difficult it would be to control its effects and to govern its use. CIEIF also excludes grants for carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) and direct air capture (DAC), since they are already backed by large funding programs.

A key

 

New battery holds promise for green energy

Redox-flow battery eliminates costly and inefficient membrane

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

 

IMAGE: UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI CHEMISTS HAVE DEVELOPED A NEW REDOX-FLOW BATTERY THAT DOES NOT USE A COSTLY AND INEFFICIENT MEMBRANE. view more 

CREDIT: ANDREW HIGLEY/UC

Jimmy Jiang envisions a future where every house is powered by renewable energy stored in batteries.

In his chemistry lab, Jiang and his students at the University of Cincinnati have created a new battery that could have profound implications for the large-scale energy storage needed by wind and solar farms.

Innovations such as UC’s will have profound effects on green energy, Jiang said. Batteries store renewable energy for when it’s needed, not just when it’s produced. This is crucial for getting the most out of wind and solar power, he said.

“Energy generation and energy consumption is always mismatched,” he said. “That’s why it’s important to have a device that can store that energy temporarily and release it when it’s needed.”

They described their novel design in the journal Nature Communications.

Traditional car batteries contain a mix of sulfuric acid and water. And while they are inexpensive and made from readily available materials, they have severe drawbacks for industrial or large-scale use. They have a very low energy density, which isn’t useful for storing megawatts of power needed to power a city.

And they have a low threshold for electrochemical stability. Jiang said that means they can blow up.

“Water has a voltage limit. Once the voltage of an aqueous battery exceeds the stability window of 1.5 volts, the water can decompose or be split into hydrogen and oxygen, which is explosive,” he said.

But Jiang and his students have developed a battery without water that can generate nearly 4 volts of power. Jiang’s novel design does so without a membrane-separator, which are among the priciest parts of these kinds of batteries, he said.

“Membranes are super expensive,” Jiang said. “We developed a new type of energy storage material that improves performance at a lower cost.”

Likewise, membranes are inefficient, he said.

“They can’t separate the positive and negative sides completely, so there is always crossover,” he said.

The group has submitted provisional patent applications, he said.

“There is still a long way to go,” Jiang said.

But he said we are hurtling toward a battery revolution in the next 20 years.

“I am confident about that. There is a lot of intense research going into pushing the boundaries of battery performance,” he said.

His students are equally enthusiastic. Doctoral student and study co-author Rabin Siwakoti said the battery offers higher energy density.

“So even a small battery can give you more energy,” he said.

“We’ve managed to eliminate the membrane in a battery, which is a huge component of upfront costs. It’s as much as 30% of the cost of the battery,” co-author and doctoral student Jack McGrath said.

Co-author Soumalya Sinha, a visiting professor at UC, said countries are racing to develop cheaper, more efficient batteries.

“This design significantly decreases material costs,” he said. “We’re trying to achieve the same performance at a cheaper cost.”

Other contributors include lead author and UC postdoctoral researcher Rajeev Gautam, doctoral student Xiao Wang and UC doctoral graduate Amir Lashgari.

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-40374-y 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Development of high-voltage and high-energy membrane-free nonaqueous lithium-based organic redox flow batteries

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

8-Aug-2023

 

Amish found to be under-vaccinated for COVID-19 but not unvaccinated

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENN STATE

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — This summer, viral misinformation claimed that the Amish did not vaccinate against COVID-19 and, as a result, had a death rate 90 times lower than the rest of the United States. Now, a Penn State study is the first to provide geographically broad and population-wide evidence that while the Amish-populated counties across the nation tend to have lower vaccination rates than other populations, they are not entirely unvaccinated. 

The research was published recently in the journal Population Research and Policy Review.

The Amish are a distinctive Christian subculture that traces its roots to the 16th century Protestant Reformation. According to Cory Anderson, author on the study and postdoctoral fellow in Penn State’s Population Research Institute, part of the Social Science Research Institute, medical documents typically don’t include patients’ religious beliefs, making it difficult to study the Amish and other religious groups from medical records. 

Additionally, the researchers said, a low number of COVID-19 tests were taken in the Amish community during the pandemic, so assessing data on COVID-19 cases or deaths among this population is difficult.

“While there is relatively little quantitative data analysis on Amish vaccination, some local studies have suggested that Amish were vaccine hesitant before COVID-19,” Anderson said. “With new population data on COVID-19 now available, we wanted to determine vaccination rates in counties with high Amish populations.”

The researchers conducted an analysis of county-level data in Amish-prevalent counties. As the counties only showed the vaccination rates of the entire population, analyzing Amish-prevalent counties gave the researchers an estimation of Amish vaccination rates.

“We examined over 350 counties spanning 10 Amish-populated states from February 2021 — when the vaccines became available — through October 2022 to determine COVID-19 vaccination rates and other social demographic data from a variety of sources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Religion Census, U.S. Census, American Community Survey, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Election Lab,” said Shuai Zhou, postdoctoral associate in the Department of Global Development at Cornell University and former graduate student under co-author Guangqing Chi, professor of rural sociology and demography at Penn State.

They found that Amish populated counties had an approximately 1.6% lower COVID-19 vaccination rate than counties without significant Amish populations. Given that only three counties had an Amish population of more than 20%, this rate is notable, the researchers said. The results suggest that higher percentages of Amish in a county significantly decrease the county-level vaccination rate while controlling for other covariates expected to also predict lower vaccination rates, such as political ideology, rural/non-rural status, household income and evangelical Protestant affiliation.

Specifically, on average, while holding all other variables constant in the model, the researchers found that 10% more Amish population corresponded to 16% less in the monthly county-level COVID-19 vaccination rate. All though not explicitly noted in the paper, the researchers’ calculations suggested that in October 2022, Amish-populated counties exhibited an average daily vaccination rate of .06%, compared to the national average rate of .08%.

“The results support our hypothesis that Amish affiliation independently predicts vaccine hesitancy,” Anderson said. “This finding supports our hypothesis that Amish are under-vaccinated for COVID-19, although not at the rate some recent commentators have suggested.”

Anderson, who is part of the Amish community, said he saw at the beginning of the pandemic the Amish were side-stepping many preventative measures and hypothesized COVID-19 vaccination rates would be lower than the rest of the population. However, widely circulated commentary that no Amish were vaccinated were unsubstantiated.

The findings underscore the failure of public health outreach efforts to convince the Amish to accept COVID-19 preventative measures and vaccines, according to Chi.

“Health service providers working with the Amish need to realize that it takes time to build a collaborative and trustful relationship with them, and humility goes a long way,” Chi said.

According to Anderson, the Amish community is unrepresented in higher education, therefore scientific knowledge about these communities is coming out of institutions they are not a part of.

“This has repercussions on their response when scientific knowledge is translated into public health policy,” Anderson said. “Academia should continue to invest in resources to collaborate with this population.”

Learning more about this community is important, Anderson said, because the Amish population is growing, and as it grows, the Amish will migrate to new places throughout North America.

“Their impact will be felt on rural communities, where population density is low and public resources are slim,” Anderson said.

With this study complete, Anderson and his team will continue to analyze data to discover deeper cultural changes during the pandemic.

“Challenging times have a way of bringing to the forefront cultural patterns that are buried deeply when life is routine,” Anderson said. “Challenging times reveal what a community is made of and can shape the culture moving forward.”

Support for this work was provided by the Population Research Institute, which is supported by an infrastructure grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Social Environments and Population Health training grant, and U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Multistate Research Project. Further support was provided by a seed grant from the National Institute on Aging-supported Interdisciplinary Network on Rural Population Health and Aging. 

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DOI

10.1007/s11113-023-09816-9 

 

Closing in on the Elusive Neutrino

Project 8 marks a major milestone in its quest to measure neutrino mass

Peer-Reviewed Publication

DOE/PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY

 

IMAGE: CYCLOTRON RADIATION EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY (CRES), SEEN HERE, IS THE KEY TO A TOTALLY NEW METHOD THAT AIMS TO PIN DOWN THE MASS OF THE ELUSIVE NEUTRINO. view more 

CREDIT: ALEC LINDMAN, THE PROJECT 8 TEAM

The humble neutrino, an elusive subatomic particle that passes effortlessly through normal matter, plays an outsized role among the particles that comprise our universe. To fully explain how our universe came to be, we need to know its mass. But, like so many of us, it avoids being weighed.

Now, an international team of researchers from the United States and Germany leading an ambitious quest called Project 8 reports that their distinctive strategy is a realistic contender to be the first to measure the neutrino mass. Once fully scaled up, Project 8 could help reveal how neutrinos influenced the early evolution of the universe as we know it.

In 2022, the KATRIN research team set an upper bound for how heavy the neutrino could possibly be. That milestone was a tour-de-force accomplishment that has been decades in the making. But these results simply narrow the search window. KATRIN will soon reach and may one day even exceed its targeted detection limits, but the featherweight neutrino might be lighter still, begging the question: “what’s next?”

Tracing a ghost

In their most recent study, the Project 8 team reports in Physical Review Letters that they can use a brand-new technique to reliably track and record a natural occurrence called beta decay. Each event emits a tiny amount of energy when a rare radioactive variant of hydrogen—called tritium—decays into the three subatomic particles: a helium ion, an electron, and a neutrino.

The ultimate success of Project 8 hinges on an ambitious plan. Rather than try to detect the neutrino—which effortlessly passes through most detector technology—the research team has instead gone after a simple measurement strategy that can be summarized as follows:

We know the total mass of a tritium atom equals the energy of its parts, thanks to Einstein. When we measure a free electron generated by beta decay, and we know the total mass, the “missing” energy is the neutrino mass and motion.

“In principle, with technology developments and scale up, we have a realistic shot at getting into the range necessary to pin down the neutrino mass,” said Brent VanDevender, one of the principal investigators of Project 8 at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Why Project 8?

These researchers chose to go after an ambitious strategy because they have worked through the pros and cons and concluded that it could work.

Talia Weiss is a nuclear physics graduate student at Yale University. She and her Project 8 colleagues have spent years figuring out how to accurately tease out the electron signals from electronic background noise. Christine Claessens is a postdoctoral associate at the University of Washington who earned her Ph.D. on Project 8 at the University of Mainz, Germany.  Weiss and Claessens performed the two final analyses that placed limits on the neutrino mass derived from the new technique for the first time.

“The neutrino is incredibly light," said Weiss. “It’s more than 500,000 times lighter than an electron. So, when neutrinos and electrons are created at the same time, the neutrino mass has only a tiny effect on the electron’s motion. We want to see that small effect. So, we need a super precise method to measure how fast the electrons are zipping around.”

Project 8 relies on just such a technique, one conceived over a decade ago by physicists Joe Formaggio and Ben Monreal, then working at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An international team rallied around the idea and formed Project 8 to convert the vision into a practical tool. The resulting method is called Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES). It captures the microwave radiation emitted from newborn electrons as they spiral around in a magnetic field. These electrons carry away most—but not all—of the energy released during a beta decay event. It’s that missing energy that can reveal the neutrino mass. This is the first time that tritium beta decays have been measured, and an upper limit placed on the neutrino mass, with the CRES technique.

The team is only interested in tracking these electrons because their energy is key to revealing the neutrino mass. While this strategy has been used previously, the CRES detector measures that crucial electron energy with the potential to scale up beyond any existing technology. And that scalability is what sets Project 8 apart.  Elise Novitski is an assistant professor at the University of Washington and has led many aspects of the newly published work.

“Nobody else is doing this,” Novitski said. “We're not taking an existing technique and trying to tweak it a little bit. We're kind of in the Wild West.”

In their most recent experiment, built at the University of Washington in Seattle, the team tracked 3,770 tritium beta decay events over an 82-day trial window in a sample cell the size of a single pea. The sample cell is cryogenically cooled and placed in a magnetic field that traps the emerging electrons long enough for the system’s recording antennas to register a microwave signal.

Crucially, the team registered zero false signals or background events that could be confused for the real thing. That’s important because even a very small background can obscure the signal of neutrino mass making interpretation of useful signal more difficult.

From chirps to signals

A subset of Project 8 researchers, led by PNNL experimental physicist Noah Oblath, but involving a dozen others across multiple institutions, have also developed a suite of specialized software—each delightfully named after various insects***—to take the raw data and convert them to signals that can be analyzed. And project engineers have put their tinkering hats on to invent the various parts that make Project 8 come together.

“We do have engineers who are crucial to the effort,” Novitski said. “It’s kind of out there from an engineer’s point of view. Experimental physics is kind of at the boundary of physics and engineering. You have to get particularly adventuresome engineers and practical-minded physicists to collaborate, make these things come into being because this stuff is not in the textbooks.”

Getting to the finish line

Now that the team has shown their design and experimental system works using molecules of tritium, they have another pressing task ahead. A subset of the full team is now working on the next step: a system that will produce, cool and trap individual atoms of tritium. This step is tricky because tritium, like its more abundant cousin hydrogen, prefers to form molecules. Those molecules would make the ultimate goals of the Project 8 team unachievable. The researchers, led by physicists at the University of Mainz, are developing a testbed to create and trap atomic tritium with intricate arrays of magnets that will keep it from even touching the walls of the sample cell—where it is almost certain to revert to molecular form.

This technology advance, and scaling up the whole apparatus, will be the critical steps to reaching and ultimately exceeding the sensitivity achieved by the KATRIN team.

For now, the research team, which has contributing members from ten research institutions, is working on testing designs for scaling up the experiment from the pea-size sample chamber to one a thousand times larger. The idea there is to capture a lot more beta decay events using a bigger listening device—going from the size of a pea to a beachball.

“Project 8 is not only a bigger and better CRES experiment, it is the first CRES experiment and was the very first to ever use this detection technique,” Oblath said. “It had never been done before. Most experiments have a 50- or 100-year history, at least of the detection technique that they're using, whereas this is really brand new.”

It takes a village

Each Project 8 team investigator brings complementary skills to the group effort. A full list of collaborators can be found on the Project 8 web site.

Project 8 is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, the National Science Foundation, the German Research Foundation PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence, and internal investments by all collaborating institutions.

***The software suite specially developed by investigators working on Project 8 includes Morpho, Locust, Katydid, Psyllid, and Dragonfly.

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JOURNAL

Physical Review Letters

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.102502 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Tritium Beta Spectrum Measurement and Neutrino Mass Limit from Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2023